Nay Pyi Taw, 27 October
Dr Thida 00, the Union Minister for Legal Affairs and the Attorney General of the Union and her delegation attended the 11 th ASEAN Law Ministers’ Meeting (ALAWMM) through video conferencing on 27 October 2021.
At the meeting, Dr Thida 00, the Union Minister and the Attorney General of the Union addressed that Myanmar, a member of ASEAN adheres to the ASEAN Charter and respect the obligations under the Charter; Myanmar is working with ASEAN member countries to build the ASEAN Community and achieve regional cooperation; in addition, Myanmar actively participates in ALAWMM activities and has successfully held the rotating chairmanship of the 19th ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meeting (ASLOM); the Union Attorney General’s Office was re-organized into the Ministry of Legal Affairs according to Section 419 of the Constitution for legal development in Myanmar on 30 August 2021; the Ministry of Legal Affairs is responsible for scrutinizing and giving legal advices on laws, rules, by-laws, regulations, orders, directives, procedures (draft) submitted by Union Level Organizations and ministries concerned; ministries concerned or organization shall submit the draft to the Security, Stability, Peace and Rule of Law Committee for the approval of the Cabinet Meeting after receiving the advices of the Ministry of Legal Affairs; if it was approved by the Cabinet Meeting, the State Administration Council promulgates the law.
The Ministry of Legal Affairs is implementing the Strategic Plan “Providing Legal Service for Justice” (2020-2024) with five objectives and also conducting capacity-building training for law officers and staff; Myanmar Law Information System (MLIS) website has been launched in order to get the access of legal knowledge and information easily. In 2021, the ASEAN Law Association (Myanmar) which consists of judicial officers, law officers, lawyers and professors from Universities, has been re-organized and the Union Minister for Legal Affairs and Attorney General of the Union is acting as a chairman of the Organization.
In proceeding, the Union Minister added the implementation of ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the establishment of Term of Reference (TOR) with regard to the development activities of the extradition agreement of ASLOM; the Mutual Legal Aid Agreement on Criminal Matters is considered as ASEAN Agreement and as the recognition of inclusions in Appendix I of the ASEAN Charter.
During this meeting, the arrangements are being taken for the review on 11th ALAWMM implementation, the approval of the 19th ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meeting (ASLOM) Report and the approval of the 11th ALAWMM Joint Communique; and discussions were made on the proposal to hold ASLOM once a year and ALAWMM once every two years.
It is learnt that Myanmar will host and chair the 12th ASEAN Law Ministers’ Meeting (ALAWMM) and the 22nd ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meeting (ASLOM) to be held in 2023.
(MOLA’s News)